Five Netflix shows to watch if you loved ‘Not a Stranger’
Netflix has shouldered the responsibility of bringing mind-blowing psychological thrillers every week, and this time, it comes in the form of Not a Stranger.
The Turkish psychological thriller preys on every mother’s worst nightmare, telling the story of Funda, who plans to revive her painting career after a long break from the artistic world following the birth of her child. To help ease the transition and balance motherhood and her demanding career, she hires a new nanny who offers relief. But little does she know the new caregiver may not be what she seems.
As the peaceful family dynamic unravels with the arrival of the mysterious nanny, it piques viewers’ interest in whether the Netflix library has more such shows with similar themes.
Well, of course it does, and if you’re already on the search, here are five Netflix shows to stream after Not a Stranger.
Five Netflix shows to binge after Not a Stranger
Fool Me Once (David Moore and Nimer Rashed, 2024)
If you were thrilled by the domestic deception in Not a Stranger, Fool Me Once is the perfect follow-up with the exact same lineage of secrets, murder, and high-stakes suspense.
Based on Harlan Coben’s novel of the same name, the adaptation tells the story of a grieving widow and former military pilot, Maya Stern, as she returns to work after her late husband Joe’s funeral. To keep an eye on her toddler, she installs a nanny-cam at home on a friend’s advice. But just weeks later, she sees Joe on her nanny cam, playing with their daughter.
Convinced there’s more to her husband’s death than it appears, Maya launches her own investigation while an official probe is ongoing. However, when it turns out that the gunshot that killed Joe was also used to kill Maya’s sister just months earlier, she goes all out to confront her wealthy in-laws, aiming to expose a massive web of corporate corruption and cover-ups.
The Stranger (Daniel O’Hara and Hannah Quinn, 2020)
Not a Stranger spotlights an outsider who comes wrapped in a closet full of skeletons, and The Stranger on Netflix thrives exactly on the same kind of external threat.
Once again adapted from Harlan Coben’s bestselling novel, the Netflix miniseries follows Adam Price, a seemingly happily married man and father whose life is upended by a strange encounter with a mysterious woman in her 20s sporting a baseball cap. The woman approaches Adam at a bar and reveals that his wife faked a pregnancy and miscarriage before leaving on her own.
After confronting his wife, Corinne, he learns to his shock that the stranger was telling the truth, but when it leads to Corinne’s disappearance, it comes to light that Adam is not the only victim of the stranger divulging tell-all secrets; more targets have been set, and more lives are minutes away from unravelling.
As the Crow Flies (Deniz Yorulmazer, Koray Kerimoğlu, and Burak Müjdeci, 2022–2024)
Since Not a Stranger is a Turkish thriller, As the Crow Flies is simply unskippable in this post-watch party. Premiering originally in 2022, the Turkish drama follows an ambitious but obsessive young fan who infiltrates veteran news anchor Lale’s newsroom through manipulation and deception to upend her life from the inside.
She manoeuvres through a staged internship, soon becoming a part of Lale’s inner circle, and then her dark persona grows even darker as she spirals steadily into the questionable side of ambition, envy, and intergenerational clashes.
Determined to ruin Lale’s personal and professional life, As the Crow Flies centres on the young fan who lays traps for rival interns, spreads calculated gossip, and pulls every string possible to sabotage. However, as Lale gets a hunch, it all boils down to counter-strategies, culminating in a fierce confrontation and power struggle.
Who Were We Running From? (Umut Aral and Gökçen Usta, 2023)
Next on the list is also a Turkish thriller, Who Were We Running From? based on Perihan Mağden’s novel of the same name. The Netflix adaptation centres on an unnamed mother and her teenage daughter, Bambi, who seem to live under the threat of an invisible force, constantly moving from one luxury hotel to another, living as fugitives.
While the pair treats everyone as a risk, they isolate themselves and flee whenever they draw attention or cops get close.
Similar to how Not a Stranger builds suspense by capitalising on the fear of the unknown, forcing viewers to play armchair detectives and read between the lines, Who Were We Running From? keeps the audience guessing at all times. So, if you’re ready for another puzzle and having your mind blown while at it, you must find out why the strange mother-daughter duo always seem to be on the run.
Dear Child (Julian Pörksen, 2023)
To pull the curtains on the post-viewing party, we have a claustrophobic German limited series, Dear Child, to do the deed. The gritty psychological thriller, based on Romy Hausmann’s bestselling novel, follows a woman and two young children locked in a windowless bunker deep inside the dense woods, under the strict rules of a terrifying captor.
Although the woman flees after months of captivity alongside her 12-year-old daughter, Hannah, she’s hurt badly in a hit-and-run case. When they are taken to a hospital, an immediate police investigation unfolds, where Hannah informs them that her mother’s name is Lena.
But when Lena’s parents are summoned, everyone is taken aback to discover that the injured woman is not their daughter, who vanished 13 years ago. Dear Child revolves around the intense investigation that follows, exposing an endless cycle of decade-long abuse and trauma.